Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/392281
ByAlanFram The Associated Press WASHINGTON Guncontrol groups say this is the year they finally go toe-to-toe with the National Rifle As- sociation and match their foe's imposing campaign spending for congressional candidates. Their long-awaited fi- nancial parity with the gun lobby, however, underscores the importance of timing in politics. Firearms violence has faded as a top tier pub- lic concern, a turnabout from the issue's high pro- file immediately following the December 2012 massa- cre of 20 first-graders and six aides at Sandy Hook El- ementary School in New- town, Conn. The subject barely regis- ters in polling that shows voters far more focused on the economy and terror- ism. This week's Associ- ated Press-GfK poll showed fewer than 1 percent of likely voters named guns as the nation's top issue — a view that many House and Senate contests reflect. "I can't think of one race where the gun issue has been prominent in any way," said Democratic poll- ster John Anzalone, who is involved in two dozen con- gressional campaigns. That isn't stopping each side in the gun debate from planning to pump tens of millions of dollars into this fall's races. There are nu- merous close contests, par- ticularly for seats in a Sen- ate that both parties hope to control next year. "It's an important issue to segments of voters on both sides" of the gun is- sue, said Neil Newhouse, a Republican pollster. "You don't need to make a huge difference, you just need to make a little difference be- cause these races are all so close." Few doubt that organiza- tions led by billionaire Mi- chael Bloomberg and the wounded former Rep. Ga- brielle Giffords, D-Ariz., will unleash huge sums in the campaigns' closing weeks to back candidates favoring firearms curbs. They're off to modest starts — unlike the NRA. Barely a month from Election Day, the nation's most powerful gun rights group has so far reported spending over $10 million for ads and other efforts either for or against more than 60 congressional can- didates. The efforts include sending NRA field repre- sentatives to gun shows to tout favored candidates. That spending — which is supposed to be done in- dependently and not coor- dinated with candidates — makes the NRA the ninth highest spender of more than 300 groups tracked by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, which monitors political spend- ing. Virtually all NRA spend- ing has been to help Repub- licans. As of Aug. 31 it re- ported having $18.5 million banked and was still rais- ing money. NRA expenditures in- clude over $1 million in each of five states — North Carolina, Arkansas, Iowa, Colorado and Louisiana — to help GOP hopefuls cap- ture Senate seats held by Democrats. All those races seem tight. Some NRA ads have tar- geted Bloomberg, the for- mer New York City mayor who is bankrolling two groups that back gun curbs. In one recent NRA spot, a Colorado woman, Kimberly Weeks, describes an assault she survived in her home and says, "Michael Bloom- berg wants to take away my gun rights for self-defense while he surrounds himself with armed guards" at his New York home. The NRA's early spend- ing advantage could be short-lived. Bloomberg has pledged to spend $50 million this year to advance his gun control goals. POLITICS Gun foes plan to match NRA spending ELAINETHOMPSON—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS In this file photo, former Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords testifies before a Washington state House panel in Olympia, Wash. PAID ADVERTISEMENT | NEWS | REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM FRIDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2014 4 B